


Puella Magi Homura Magica

by BlackBirdAolen



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Different Outcome Maybe, Gen, Hope, Learning From Experience, Resets, Shifting Focus, Timelines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 09:39:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17261903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBirdAolen/pseuds/BlackBirdAolen
Summary: A little something I wanted to write since quite some time...Homura finds herself wondering if she should keep doing things the same throughout the resets, or if it is a much smarter choice to make efforts to try different angles, even if they might not be successful.Got a fanfic idea for me?My deviantART - full of original fiction.Snippets and ramblings on my tumblr.





	1. Reset Number VII

Day 01, Reset VII

 

Homura’s heart still was nearly leaping out of her chest when she woke up in the hospital. She stared down at her soul gem, trying to get her breathing under control. This hadn’t gone to plan at all this time. She had managed to get Mami, Kyoko and Sayaka to Walpurgis, which had been a bit of a feat, but again, it had gone terribly wrong. Walpurgis just seemed that little bit too strong, that little bit too overwhelming with her presence alone, that it just went downhill quickly as soon as the fight took even the slightest turn.

A thought formed in Homura’s mind. She had tried to go the direct and honest way, which hadn’t worked out, and when she had tried to hold back information, the other girls had caught on that there was more to the story than she was willing to tell – and that had made her suspicious in the others’ eyes. She had to try and come across as more natural, in her mind, but that was hard when she already knew what the consequence of a wasted month of empty efforts were.

And yet… should she be concerned with the outcome before she knew for sure how bad it would be?

A pause came over her, then Homura shook her head slowly. She had to go about each reset with care, else, the timeline was wasted for naught. She had a chance to learn from every mistake. The goal was clear, it was just that she had to find a better way to achieve the result he had in her mind.

“I can do this.” Homura breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself down. She knew that this body was more or less just a husk by now, not affected too badly by physical things, but the mental strain that was put on a magical girl each and every time she went through the labyrinth towards a witch, every time she had to witness that her own destiny was inevitably linked with the witches, that was the hard part.

But she could do this. She could make a change, every time she went through the loop. The only difficulty would be to keep her spirits up and really remain focused on how she could go about every new chance. That was, in a way, the beauty of being able to jump back to the beginning of the month. She could experience all the good things all over again, even if there were exceedingly bad things that could happen any time she went through the sequence of days until the day of Walpurgis.

~

Day 7, Reset VII

 

“You mean that you can use things like rocket launchers!?” Kyoko’s disbelief was obvious, but at least she didn’t seem to be completely put off by the idea. “Isn’t that a bit extreme?”

Homura hesitated for a moment. “Well, I don’t know really. You can summon extremely large spears and create barriers, that’s worth a lot, too.”

Kyoko thought about it, nodding slowly while she thought about this wisdom with a chip halfway outside of her mouth. They sat on a rooftop, which seemed to be Kyoko’s favorite place to be, regardless of how many resets she had gone through. “Yeah, we can do pretty awesome things.” She shot Homura a shrewd look. “Don’t you sometimes wish you could control even more?”

“Sometimes, yes.” Homura wasn’t too taken aback by this question. She already had found out how Kyoko’s wish had come to be. This timeline’s Kyoko had been more approachable, maybe also because Homura knew better how to interact with her. “But in the end, it turns out to be a big risk. And with our battles being difficult as they are, I rather not take any more risks.”

“Eh, I don’t know.” Kyoko stretched her arms, until her shoulders popped lightly, and she gave a satisfied sigh. “If you don’t take a risk sometimes, then you just get the same old boring stuff over and over again.”

Homura looked down on her ring. Maybe Kyoko had a point. But she would see about this later on.

~

Day 11, Reset VII

 

Homura kept a bit back while she watched Mami and Madoka heading off. Sayaka was nowhere to be seen, but in this timeline, she seemed to be keeping away a lot. She was still wrapped up with Kyousuke, predictably, but at least, Sayaka seemed to not have made a wish so far. At least, Madoka and Mami didn’t appear to notice that Sayaka was a magical girl, which usually was a pretty good indication that she had joined their fight.

Kyoko slowly approached her, nudging Homura lightly when she stood next to her. “Mami is a pretty tough one. I did challenge her to a friendly fight one time – she just about wiped the floor with me.” Homura was listening in, but her focus was mostly on Madoka and Mami. Madoka had made her wish already in this timeline, which was bad. Maybe she could find a way to undo at least part of the damage, but it would be hard on such short notice.

“Kyoko… Have you ever wished you could go back and undo your wish?” Homura gave her companion a side-long glance, and the red-head shook her head firmly. “Really? You never regretted it?”

“Maybe for a short time. But it is no use to despair. Despair means you give up, right? Even if you have such amazing powers at your fingertips. And that’s just something I can’t do.”

Homura thought about those words until late into the night, while she lay in bed and thought about the day that had passed. Having amazing power at her fingertips… Was that all the reason that Kyoko needed to feel like she had a fighting chance in the world? That was an interesting perspective. Maybe even one she should take to heart.

~

Day 20, Reset VII

 

It was no use. Mami, being the ever cautious fighter, maybe even the overprotective motherly type, had kept Madoka well away from the other magical girls. Homura guessed that after the fight against Kyoko, Mami didn’t want to subject Madoka to a fight with the lance-wielding magical girl. Kyoko had even admitted that she would have loved to find out how much power the archer of the magical girls was packing, but Homura feared that Madoka packed more of a punch than Kyoko would have guessed.

“No way of working with them, I guess. They are pretty stubborn. I thought they would have liked some help. After all, they seem like the sociable kind of fighters.” Kyoko gave a little smirk. She would have loved to test Madoka and Mami for their true mettle, Homura just knew that. But she couldn’t risk to have them fight amongst one another just a week before Walpurgis was to return to Mitakihara.

“You should give that a rest, probably.” Homura squeezed Kyoko’s shoulder lightly, then turned around. For the night, she saw little chance to talk to Mami and Madoka normally. Kyoko was so often by her side, it was hard for her to get the two long-ranged fighters to trust her.

“Heh. You are just scared.”

Maybe she was? Homura couldn’t tell for sure, there was a storm of feelings in her chest. Maybe the next reset would give her a clearer path how to keep Madoka away from the eye of the storm that was Walpurgis.


	2. Reset Number XIII

Day 25, Reset XIII

 

Homura leaned back against the backrest of the couch and tried to figure out what she had missed. The last couple of attempts had been horrendous at best, ending up with her alone and facing up Walpurgis with maybe one or two other magical girls trying their best to hold the enormous witch at bay. But again, they had been unsuccessful. It was disheartening to know that even with Madoka having grown noticeably more skillful and powerful, it still wasn’t enough to stop the enormous witch.

While she sat over her documents, a thought crossed Homura’s mind. She had taken numerous pictures of the witch at every opportunity, or at least she had more or less drawn from what she had seen in the past and formed it into a tangible picture. There had been shapes dancing around Walpurgis, and Homura thought that it had looked like a congregation of several magical girls. It was odd to think about it like that, but it also seemed highly logical. Walpurgis seemed like the result of a witch having grown in power through killing magical girls.

Or, and that was an even more unsettling option, Walpurgis was the result of several magical girls having all had the same wish, and having turned into witches at the same time.

But something about it didn’t quite seem to fit. Homura tried her best to decipher the thoughts in her own mind, to determine what was giving her such doubts. Kyubey was able to do just about anything that would give him the ability to gather more energy for the universe, it didn’t really matter to him at all. But to have several girls in agreement over what they wished in exchanged of becoming a part of the eternal cycle was a bit much of a stretch of imagination.

Homura looked up when she heard distant thunder. Walpurgis was still three days off, but it seemed that the thunderstorms were preceding her. Of course, Walpurgis would again be thought to be some kind of supercell-storm, even though it ran counter to all scientific knowledge at that point.

“I wonder…”

Homura began to note down more of what she had observed so far.

_Walpurgis arrives at the same point in time, and has so consistently for the past resets._

_The girls sometimes know, sometimes they don’t. Mami seems to be the one most often informed, though I wasn’t able to determine what tipped her off._

_It is possible that Kyubey might tell her or one of the other girls. He claims he cannot influence anyone in making their wish, but that in itself is contradictory. His mere presence and his words will always influence the decision, no matter how much he claims it is otherwise. A mere, innocuous remark in the presence of girls like Madoka, Sayaka or Mami would be more than enough. Kyoko might be suckered in as well, though it seems unlikely._

_Walpurgis usually appears above a stadium on the outskirts of Mitakihara. The direction she comes from might vary._

_Kyubey usually observes the fight._

_Madoka, if she isn’t already in a pact with Kyubey, will invariably make a pact with him as soon as Walpurgis comes and no one is left to fight her._

_So far, keeping her away from Kyubey has proven to be impossible. His countless bodies enable him to cover pretty much all of the city perimeter, and that makes it an endless task to try and root him out._

_Warning Madoka against Kyubey’s intentions will not always work. His innocent look and his ability to sound like he means absolutely no harm is working against me._

_Giving away how much I know doesn’t always work in my favor either. It could just be the way I try to convey this information. The problematic part is me trying to push too much, probably – it is a bit hard for me to tell. The resets are already starting to slightly blur together. I will have to start keeping better track. Maybe I can improve my memory even more. My magic seems to be able to do it just fine, and it persists. There is no shame in using it like that, really._

_Fighting the witches is becoming easier with time. What I’m more concerned about is the fact that the girls can lash out in unexpected ways. They are slightly different with each reset, and I can’t predict everything._

_Kyubey can grow suspicious of me. But it usually takes him a much too long time if I don’t give him reason for suspicion. I should always keep a low profile around him._

Homura nodded slowly, then tapped her fingertips against the top of the table. She had accumulated some knowledge already, but it still wasn’t enough to capture everything. She had half a mind to spend the next couple of resets to accumulate more knowledge from some books, but she had no idea where she was supposed to start.


End file.
